Open Thread Wednesday

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  • disqus_4VRLDJDS9j

    Shameful trend in North Brooklyn Heights. Cutting down healthy mature trees as part of your back yard renovation for “more light”. I went over to investigate the reason for removal. Even the tree trimmers thought it was crazy.

    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/db2fdadcbbc8c1090a234151af70132e6a676bfcc1a9cf12bd89ee138ba8eda1.jpg

  • CassieVonMontague

    What kind of tree was it?

  • treelover

    how do you know its for more light? i a couple of years ago we had to remove the tree because the roots were actually destroying the foundation and wall of the tree making the building unstable. also some larger trees have caused massive damage and been damaged from the hurricanes the past two years. as we all know the big tree that fell on grace church is gone.

  • Cranberry Beret

    I don’t know the circumstances of this tree removal. (Or even if was done by 70 Cranberry who you’ve pictured. Your aerial shots make it look like the house next to Plymouth.) I do know that 70 Cranberry ripped out most of the historic interior detail from their parlor floor a few years ago. You can see the result through the front windows.

  • Banet

    I don’t recall a tree falling on the church. A tree on Hicks fell on the sidewall on the house on the corner of Remsen and grace court – the house that backs up to the side grace church. It was in a massive windstorm a few years ago. The city has since paved over the tree pit with asphalt but it’s been marked for a new tree pit this month. About 3 other massive trees also came down in that storm.

    The trees pictured could easily have been removed for light. Or for invasive roots. Or for Asian longhorn beetle infestation. Or for a rotting inner trunk that made them a liability to all the surrounding homes. We don’t know.

    It’s always a shame though when the city loses a mature canopy. One thing we can all do is donate to the BHA’s designated Tree Fund. It’s used to fund the planting and care of new trees and the expansion of undersized tree pits. You can also adopt a new sapling if you see one in need. Get a gator bag and fill it up once a week.

  • kizz

    High Tide, from the owners of the bar/restaurant on the schooner called Pilot on Pier 6 in Brooklyn Bridge Park among many other nautical-related places in the city, will be opening any day now serving drinks and food at the Fulton Ferry Landing. Information here:

    https://crewny.com/high-tide

  • Pierrepont Pirate

    Just noticed that a Getir store (distribution center) opened on Pierrepont between Clinton and Cadman. I don’t know anyone that’s every used the service so it was a little surprising to see. Then again, it’s nice to see open store fronts filled though I would prefer a true store. For those that don’t know, Getir is one of those app-based services that delivers convenience items in 30 minutes or less.

  • Mike Suko

    I can confirm the renewal. I saw the tail end (chipping), but my jaw dropped when I saw one of the workman come out from “under-the-stoop” with one of those 75 pound “segments” of the main trunk.

    I’m more concerned about the numerous (growing ?) number of non-trees here and there on Heights streets. It’s a shame that most Mayors start something undeniably great (although one can always debate how it compares to other projects passed over) – like Bloomberg’s tree-planting – and the next guy says, “Full stop,” mostly because of animus to “the former guy.”

    Kudos the the BHA for working to save some of the trees via “pit improvement,” but I’m really unclear as to who makes the call as to when trees are cut down and/or re-planted in the much more typical by-the-curb locations.

  • Mike Suko

    Haven’t seen the weekly Covid numbers posted by a guy whose vision of this blog differs from my own, but – anecdotally – I’m hearing that the rush back to “normal” (I know I’ve dropped my guard, so to speak, to a large extent) may be hitting “not so fast” in various places.

    Nor has Andrew added several “column inches” yet with his weekly (sometimes interesting) “from my bottomless collection of old photos….”

    So, I’ll try to fill those gaps by wondering out loud – again, but not in at least 6 months – how/why properties like the one at Clark and Monroe (or even St. Ann’s Church) can go many years – 20, as a guess with St. Ann’s – without remediating something and making sidewalk sheds semi-permanent.

    One knows that “private property” is almost sacrosanct in our country, but *ALMOST* obviously does have some exceptions – both in law and “wisdom.” Each case differs, but there must be a thousand such properties throughout the City, and for all that the Adams administration came out “against rats” this week, some abandoned buildings might as well have signs encouraging rats to be fruitful & multiply. Heaven knows, we are densely populated. Leaving aside aesthetics – again, why insist on bluestone paving when you have eyesores seemingly forever on otherwise beautiful blocks? – isn’t public safety (danger of fires, collapse, pipes bursting, etc.) a high enough priority to let the City or a neighbor make a tear-down happen?! Surely, a building inspector could certify that a building is beyond repair and eliminate most of the DANGERS that way – without really harming the property-owner financially.

    I’m not suggesting that for St. Ann’s, of course, but the NY Episcopal diocese has resources that many countries would envy. Are they required to have a plan on file as to remediation? Or can they act badly … forever – vis a vis the community they “serve?”

  • Karl Junkersfeld

    If interested, video about History of Fulton Landing. Historic view.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pi9VMZLp0r8&t=5s

  • Banet

    That one has been there for close to a year at least. But now there’s another (same business or similar) next to Perelandra. Those places are a scourge to our city. I can’t wait for all of them to go bankrupt.

  • Jorale-man

    I hear a commenter “whose vision differs from my own” has been inquiring, so here are the latest Covid-19 numbers for 11201:
    Dates: October 11-October 17
    7-day percent positive: 10.03%
    People tested (reported to date): 778
    New people positive (reported to date): 78
    https://www1.nyc.gov/site/doh/covid/covid-19-data.page#maps

    The usual disclaimer applies, that these are a drastic undercount given home testing. #MaskUp #CovidIsAirborn

  • FatFreddy’sCatheter

    The debris in the chipping shot looks like oak, judging by leaf shape.

  • FatFreddy’sCatheter

    P. S. I love trees, and the squirrels that run up and down them, and losing a grand one is reason to mourn.

  • Andrew Porter

    Took this photo of a film shoot on the public pier at Fulton Ferry several decades ago, before the former fire station became an ice cream place:
    https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/96e1e56765436267a2be63b4fbf364ea81e739a92936faeb72d171a261b65243.jpg